Arabic numbers and gender
Arabic nouns are masculine or feminine, and numbers respond to them, but not in the way a learner expects. The worksheets on this site use one set, the counting forms; this page shows the rest and says where each applies.
Updated 8 October 2026
The rule in four lines
- 1 and 2 agree with the noun and come after it, like adjectives.
- 3 to 10 take the opposite gender: with ة for a masculine noun, without for a feminine one. The noun is plural.
- 11 to 19 split: in 13 to 19 the unit is opposite and the ten agrees; 11 and 12 agree in both parts. The noun is singular, accusative.
- The tens, hundreds and thousands do not change. Only a unit inside them follows the rules above.
Side by side
Masculine noun: كتاب (book, plural كتب). Feminine noun: طالبة (female student, plural طالبات). The accusative ending on the singular noun after 11 is written as a final ا on كتابا; on a word ending in ة it is not written, so طالبة looks unchanged.
| Number | Masculine noun | Feminine noun | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | كتاب واحد | طالبة واحدة | agrees, after the noun |
| 2 | كتابان اثنان | طالبتان اثنتان | agrees, after the noun (often left out) |
| 3 | ثلاثة كتب | ثلاث طالبات | opposite gender; plural noun |
| 8 | ثمانية كتب | ثماني طالبات | opposite gender; plural noun |
| 10 | عشرة كتب | عشر طالبات | opposite gender; plural noun |
| 11 | أحد عشر كتابا | إحدى عشرة طالبة | both parts agree; singular noun |
| 12 | اثنا عشر كتابا | اثنتا عشرة طالبة | both parts agree; singular noun |
| 13 | ثلاثة عشر كتابا | ثلاث عشرة طالبة | unit opposite, ten agrees; singular noun |
| 20 | عشرون كتابا | عشرون طالبة | no change; singular noun |
| 21 | واحد وعشرون كتابا | إحدى وعشرون طالبة | unit agrees, ten unchanged |
| 25 | خمسة وعشرون كتابا | خمس وعشرون طالبة | unit opposite, ten unchanged |
| 100 | مائة كتاب | مائة طالبة | no change; singular noun |
Why the worksheets use one form
A worksheet of bare numbers (write 25 in Arabic) has no noun for the number to agree with. Arabic answers that question with the counting form, the set with ة, which is also the form used with a masculine noun. Printing a mix of forms would make a correct answer depend on a noun that is not on the page, so every sheet and every key on this site uses the counting form, and the sheets say so in their heading line. A pupil who writes خمس وعشرون for 25 has written the feminine form: right with a feminine noun, not the counting form the sheet asks for.
Teachers who want the feminine forms drilled can use the tables on this page and on 1 to 10. For numbers that count money, where the rule matters every day, see prices; for first, second and third, which follow a different pattern, see ordinal numbers.
Questions
Why would a number take the opposite gender?
Historically the numbers 3 to 10 were nouns themselves, and the form with ة was the one used with masculine nouns; grammarians call the pattern polarity. Ryding treats it as a rule to learn rather than to derive, and that is the practical advice: ة on the number when the noun is masculine (ثلاثة كتب), no ة when it is feminine (ثلاث طالبات).
Which gender do I use when I count aloud?
The forms with ة, the same as with a masculine noun: واحد، اثنان، ثلاثة، أربعة. These are the counting forms printed on this site’s chart and worksheets, and they are what a teacher expects when no noun is given.
Does the gender rule matter for the tens and hundreds?
No. عشرون, ثلاثون and the other tens have one form, and so do مائة and ألف. Only the unit inside a larger number (the 5 in 25, the 3 in 13) and the numbers 1 to 10 change.
Do people follow these rules in speech?
In careful Modern Standard Arabic, yes. In everyday dialect speech the polarity rule is much reduced: many speakers use one form of the number with most nouns. Written Arabic and exams follow the full rule.